Steven Spielberg has gone full Anglophile this year, directing two big-budget December releases loaded with British talent. There’s War Horse, based on the novel and Tony-winning Broadway play (with Emily Watson, David Thewlis, Tom Hiddleston, and Benedict Cumberbatch), and The Adventures of Tintin, a computer-animated adaptation of Belgian writer Hergé‘s books. The latter film features voice work from Jamie Bell, Nick Frost, Simon Pegg, Daniel Craig, Toby Jones, Mackenzie Crook, and Andy Serkis, just to name a few of the UK stars packed into the all-star cast.

However, the Britishness doesn’t stop there: Spielberg and producer Peter Jackson handpicked Steven Moffat, known to the world as the man behind Doctor Who and Sherlock, to write the Tintin screenplay. Spielberg tells The Sun that he’s a major Whovian.

“Steven wrote one of my favorite TV shows, which is Doctor Who,” he said.

“Peter and I felt whoever did Doctor Who would have a good sensibility for Tintin. And it so happens Steven had read Tintin since he was eight.”

When Moffat departed Tintin to do his day job — writing and producing Doctor Who — he handed over the reins to two fellow Brits with major geek cred.

“Even when he had to leave the Tintin project to get on with making Doctor Who,” Spielberg continued. “I got two other Brits — Shaun of the Dead‘s Edgar Wright and Attack The Block‘s Joe Cornish — to finish the job.

“They’re two great British writers.”

Indeed. Spielberg certainly has impeccable taste. The Adventures of Tintin will be released in the UK this week but will hit theaters in the U.S. on December 21. Take a look at the trailer:

Kevin Wicks

Kevin Wicks founded BBCAmerica.com's Anglophenia blog back in 2005 and has been translating British culture for an American audience ever since. While not British himself—he was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri—he once received inordinate hospitality in London for sharing the name of a dead but beloved EastEnders character. His Anglophilia stems from a high school love of Morrissey, whom he calls his "gateway drug" into British culture.